ARC REVIEW: The Darkest Joy (The Darkest Joy, #1) by Marata Eros

Six months ago, Brooke Starr was one impeccable piano performance away from Juilliard. Now, she is lonely, devastated, orphaned . . . seeking solace in a place where the sun never sets and trying to make sense of the dark tragedy that clouds her shattered heart.

There are no coincidences. . . .

Deep-sea fisherman Chance Taylor can’t imagine what his life would be if he’d never taken that midnight stroll to the pier. Had never seen the intriguing, raven-haired girl swan dive into the Alaskan sea. Had never plunged into the icy waters to rescue her . . . and finally felt her electric charge.

As their blazing chemistry consumes them, Chance is determined to save Brooke from her demons. But Brooke knows she must find her own footing. She thinks she’s already lost everything—until the terror of her past catches up with her and threatens all that she has left: her life, her love, and the freedom to choose between drowning in grief and finding joy in the darkness.

RATING:

***REVIEW***

~Arc review provided via Netgalley in exchange for honest review~

Dear Book,

Sorry, it's not you, it's me...or actually, it is you!

It was love at first sight when I first saw the pretty cover and read the intriguing title, but then, soon enough, with every next page everything fell apart.

"...The darkest joy is better than none at all..."

This is my first book by this author. It is written in dual MCs povs. In my opinion, the author has a decent writing style, poetic and evocative at times which I really liked , so I don't have any complaints about that aspect, but as far as the plot and characters are concerned, plus her weird obsession with fish, at one point, it made me wish I were a dnf reader. The beginning was dark,gripping & heartbreaking. I thought to myself happily: oh, this has potential! The main female character is a piano player whatI really liked and could relate to being a former piano player myself for six years in school.Unfortunately, that was all we had in common.The story turned more and more into a sappy & dull romance/ fishing guide with a little mystery what is the main reason for this low rating.

The setting of the story is in Alaska with the main male character being a fishermanand apparently Alaskan people are crazy about fish and everything fish related so much that this book is full of more than long enough descriptions and conversations about fish, fishing, fish gutting, fish cleaning, weird fish phrases etc. In short- it drove me nuts! The only thing I like about fish is, vegan people close your eyes...when they are on the plate or in aquarium and that's it. After this book, I probably won't be eating it at least...for a month, lol.

2. Shallow, dull & frustrating MCs

Both, male and female characters were one of the most boring, immature characters I read in awhile. The girl was too naive, monotonous and she kept changing her mind like she had multiple personalty disorder. The thing that pissed me off the most is that at the beginning of the story she goes through this horrible trauma and she kept saying how broken she is until one day she just stops and the reason for that is explained in a few sentences, while the story about fish and fishing goes on and on and on...The guy was cheesy, shallow and a part-time frustrating caveman. He tended to get jealous for no reason and then make a scene and the girl tried to play hard to get and failed miserably and forgave him any drama queen scene he made in a second. My only thought about them was: shut up &grow up!, but the story smiled devilishly at me and said: tough luck!

3. Instant love relationship

Instant love relationship was almost always a flop in my reading history and this time wasn't any different. They saw each other for the first time and that was it. How can you fall in love with someone after just one look is beyond me? It never happened to me or people I know and until it does, it will always be something cliche and fairy-tale alike that'll only made my eyes roll. Everything just felt rushed, I didn't feel any real chemistry/ connection between them and the few sex scenes made me asleep.

3. Let's (not) travel to the boring, exciting Alaska!

I've never been to Alaska, but its description in this book could never make me want to travel there. It's described as a cold and monotonous place with fish and fishing being the main occupation of people living there.

4. Inconsistent plot

The only thing interesting and exciting about the plot was the beginning and the ending where the most action happened. Anything in-between was monotonous and easily forgettable. The book could have been shorter for a lot of pages spent on introduction on the short-lived life of fish in Alaska in my opinion. I had expected a lot more from the story, but my expectations weren't met.

I don't mean to be a bitchy book-blocker, but this is the way this story made me feel. I can recommend this only to readers who are fans of the reasons above. I'm not and that's why, unfortunately this didn't work out for me, but who knows, it has a pretty good rating on GR and Amazon, so maybe it will for you.

8 comments:

Oh wow, something smells fishy. :snort: Until about a year and half ago..I never DNFed a book. Finally I began doing it and I have to say three things happen; 1. no more reading slumps 2. my books read increased 3. I expanded and tried new genres. Sorry this didn't work, I am glad the writing was solid but I won't be adding this one anytime soon.

Nooo, no more talking about fish please xD! I know that it would be better if I started to dnf the books I don't like too, but I always feel sorry, especially if I get arcs and it's for free so I feel kind of obligated to read them :(.

I agree with point 3 - when they just meet and everything is perfect and they are each other's answers to all the questions … come on, give us some doubts, some conflicts, just something which isn't 100% right with the other person.